Chapter Eight "Stalling for Time"

Jesse was lying on the hood of Madeline's car when Michael came into the garage. His long legs dangled to the floor, and his toes tapped on the concrete. Sam was sitting at the workbench with a computer and a clutter of other spying equipment.

"Is there some reason you're both hiding out here?" Michael asked.

"We're not hiding," Jesse said, his eyes still closed. "We're waiting."

"For what?"

Sam turned away from the computer. "Something interesting to happen. We planted a bug in Carrillo's office. Earlier he got a call that a Detective Elias was taking over the case. Trouble is, we can't find any record of a Detective Elias anywhere in South Florida. We've been listening ever since to see what Carrillo finds. It didn't sound like he wanted to let it go."

"This isn't good." Michael paced the garage floor. "If there's some kind of coverup going on, we have no idea who could be behind it or why. One person attacked the prison van carrying Olivia Riley. If that same person is involved in this, he must have a lot of connections. Then why take the risk of getting Riley alone? It doesn't make sense."

Jesse sat up and blinked rapidly as he felt a head rush. "One guy? No, that doesn't make sense. I mean, he would have had time to hide Riley and kill Ruth, but why?"

"Ruth could be a distraction. Something to keep us from figuring out his real motives, but if he needs Riley, it's pretty obvious he's coming after us. The CIA is watching airports and marinas. There's been no sign of her. She's not leaving."

Sam looked nervously between Jesse and Michael. "Then what does she want?"

Michael crossed his arms. "If I had to guess, all of us dead or in prison. Probably dead."

Jesse raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, and now she's got help."

Michael rubbed his forehead. This little trip had turned into his worst nightmare. "For now, we need to focus on finding Riley. Is Carrillo still in his office?"

Sam shrugged. "As far as we can tell."

"Okay. I'm going to go over there and let him know about the coverup and that we intend to help him with the case. Then we should start trying to retrace Riley's steps since last night. She has too much of a head start already." Michael was already headed for the door.

"Hey." Sam put up his hand. "When do you plan on sleeping?"

Michael turned his head. "Later," he said. "We have work to do."

* * * Burn Notice * * *

Michael didn't like police stations. His experiences with law enforcement had never been particularly good. But he wasn't ready to present all his theories to the CIA just yet, so having a frustrated detective on his side could be a good thing. It could also get him into a lot of trouble, but he was trying to stay positive.

Most of the lights were out as Michael walked into the station. There was a long hallway from the entrance that led to a pair of double doors into a large room full of desks. Carrillo's was at the end of a row near the back wall, and the man himself was hunched over a mess of files. He didn't look up when Michael walked in.

As he approached Michael noticed an empty coffee mug near Carrillo's hand with a dark stain in the bottom of it. The lamp on the desk illuminated only that area, and the rest of the room was in darkness.

"Carrillo."

The man jerked upright and stared at Michael. "What the hell are you doing here, Westen?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Weren't you removed from the case?"

Carrillo eyed Michael suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

"Doesn't matter. But I know Detective Elias doesn't exist, and I know the conclusion you must be coming to: that there's a coverup in the works here. I want to help you change that."

"You shouldn't know these things. How do I know you're not involved?"

"Because someone killed my nephew's mother. I think it was a distraction. Something to keep me from catching a dangerous woman who escaped CIA custody last night."

"What are you talking about?"

"I shouldn't even be telling you this, but you seem like a good cop, and you want the truth to come out; you want justice. That's what I want, but I don't think Ruth was killed by some loan shark my brother owed or an incompetent burglar. I'm assuming nothing was taken from the house and you've determined there was one shooter?"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I think it was the same man who killed four CIA guards and freed Olivia Riley last night."

"Who is Olivia Riley?"

"Someone who tried to kill me once. I'm pretty sure she hates me and wants revenge. And whoever took her must have similar sentiments."

"You can't know this was connected to your sister-in-law's death."

"I don't believe in coincidences. Either way, you still want to find whoever killed her, and someone who doesn't exist is stonewalling you. I can help with that."

"So the CIA wants in on this investigation, is that it?"

"No. I'm not here on behalf of the Agency. I'm here because I think you can help me and my friends track down someone who wants us all dead. Riley hasn't left Miami; that means she has something planned. You help me find her, it could go a long way toward finding out why Ruth was killed."

Carrillo shook his head. "You know I'm not sure what your deal is, Westen. Why not have your CIA buddies take care of this?"

"Because these people are after me specifically, and my relationship with the CIA isn't exactly a trusting one at the moment."

Carrillo nodded. "I see. Tell you what, I'll look into this. See if I can find out where the order came from to take me off the case. I was gonna do that anyway, but I'll let you know what I find."

Michael smiled. "Thank you, Detective. I'm sure we'll work well together."

"Yeah. Don't get ahead of yourself, Westen."

* * * Burn Notice * * *

Dani got to the office early the next morning, but Michael was already there, and he was drinking coffee, which he didn't do a lot. She wondered if he had slept at all. The redness around his eyes said that he hadn't. Dani didn't speak to him as she sat down at her desk and checked her email for any new information. There were a few lab results from the charred van, but nothing conclusive. Finally, she turned to Michael who was sitting across from her, staring at the wall behind her.

"Please tell me you found something useful when you weren't sleeping last night," Dani said.

Michael didn't reply right away. He took a moment to refocus and sipped his coffee. "Carrillo was thrown off Ruth's case by a non-existent detective named Elias. Still no luck finding Riley. We searched all night."

Dani sighed and rested her chin in her hands. "Where does that put us?"

Michael set his paper cup on the desk. "I think we need to find out whoever this Elias is. Killing Ruth could be a distraction to keep us from finding Riley."

"And this Elias character could be a red herring."

"It's all we have. If the same person who took Riley killed Ruth it leads us to the same place."

"But what if—and I'm not saying this is the case—what if the two events are unconnected?"

Michael shook his head. "There's no motive to kill Ruth otherwise. She didn't have any enemies, and if she'd owed someone money, they would have taken what they could get from her house. Carrillo called early this morning and said she was shot with a 9mm."

"What does that prove?"

"Nothing, but I just have this feeling I know who it is."

"It might help matters if you shared that information."

Michael shook his head. "There's no proof, like you said. It's a long shot. We should work on finding Riley. How confident are we that she didn't leave Miami?"

"Her name and face were all over the area within an hour of the extraction. TSA, customs, Coast Guard. It's highly unlikely she got out of South Florida unless the people who sprung her had a lot of connections and worked very fast. And I don't think she would leave. Do you?"

"No. I don't think so."

* * * Burn Notice * * *

One of Sam's many "buddies" had come through once again. They had a lead. A slim one, but there seemed to be some activity under the name of Harry Elias at a pay by the week motel. There was a chance that was where Riley had been stashed. Upon the receipt of this knowledge, Michael, Sam, and Jesse headed over to see what they could find. Fiona made them take along enough guns and ammunition to stage a week long siege of the place. Hopefully, they wouldn't need it.

Running a mission together again felt half strange, half exhilarating. For the moment, it seemed just like before, but they all knew it wasn't. They knew this job would come to an end, as personal as it was, and Michael would once again leave for Langley. He wouldn't be back often if ever, and they certainly wouldn't be working together again. They began to feel that this was going to be one last job to say goodbye, a sendoff of sorts, the chance they didn't have three months ago to close the book on everything. No one thought the final parting would be any less painful or easy to accept than the last.

Michael pulled the Charger up to the curb a block away from the motel. If Riley was in there, they had to be subtle. She was a trained operative, and she was on the run. She had the advantage of being the defender in this little battle.

Jesse went up the alley behind the motel in case Riley tried to escape that way. Sam went to the office, and Michael watched the front to see if anyone came out.

The woman behind the counter at the front desk was a middle aged Mexican with graying hair at her temples. She looked bored and tired as Sam approached her.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," he said flashing her a smile and his fake Chuck Finley badge. "My name's Detective Finley. I'm looking for someone. Have you seen this woman?" He held up a picture of Riley.

The woman, whose name tag read Ana, shrugged and looked away.

"Okay. What about a man named Harry Elias? I think he has a room here."

"I can't give out that information," she said.

"Look, I just need to know what room he's in. It's very important."

"I'm sorry. You have to have a warrant."

"Look, there isn't time. People's lives are at stake. You could be a hero if you point us in the right direction."

Ana gave Sam a long stare. "If I tell you, you go away?"

Sam grinned. "It'll be like I was never here."

"He's in 204. He used four towels."

"Thank you very much. You've been a big help." Sam hurried back out to where Michael was waiting in the trees across the street with a pair of binoculars.

"I haven't seen Riley or our mystery man," he said.

"Well, our friend Ana in the office says he's staying n 204 and abusing his laundry privileges."

"Let's go teach him some manners then."

Michael and Sam headed back across the street and up to the second floor of the motel. When they reached 204, Michael knocked and announced that housekeeping had arrived. When no one answered for 30 seconds and there was no sound inside, Michael and Sam nodded to one another and simultaneously drew their guns and kicked in the door. Straight across the small room, the window was open, and bedsheets hung through the opening.

Michael rushed to the window and saw Jesse running down the alley, but the man in the distance had a big head start. Without a word, Michael and Sam ran back out of the room, hoping they could intercept the mysterious Elias.